Driving up the long driveway and seeing the familiar Center Parcs logo, the fact I was arriving for a spa day at this Aqua Sana Forest Spa family resort in Woburn took some getting used to. Surely all it would be was a nice pool, potentially a hot tub, sauna, and lots of screaming children running around?
How wrong I was. The Aqua Sana spa is hands down one of the nicest spas I’ve had the privilege to go to, and trust me I’ve been to my fair share.
On arrival you’re checked in, handed a white fluffy robe and escorted into the changing rooms, decked out with elemis products for your use during your visit.
Once ready, you walk up a winding staircase and open the door into a huge vast area of tranquility. It is massive, there are 25 experiences to explore, an infinity pool, exciting ‘sessions’ to take part in and not forgetting the treatments on offer.
As you enter, the first thing you’re greeted with is a sole spa. A perfect beginning to your day. In here you’ll find rows of foot spas, where jets massage your feet as you chat with friends or flick through a magazine.
It was then onto fire and ice, a traditional spa experience of getting as hot as you can before braving the cold of the ice room. We sat in the lava sauna, enjoying the dry heat and deep red colours before braving the ice cave. Anyone who’s seen Whim Hoff knows the benefits of ice baths, but I’m a wimp so a quick 30 second dance around in the freezing cold room was more than enough for me. Luckily, there’s a rainforest walkthrough shower right next to the ice room to warm you up.
Out of fire and ice and around the corner we found the herbal zone. A mixture of steam rooms and saunas all focussed on different herbs designed to revitalise and relax the body. You can enjoy a herbal inhalation room here too, lying back on stone beds and inhaling the beautiful aromas.
The spa is split over two levels, so this place honestly feels like a tardis of never-ending relaxation. The salt therapy had dry saunas, salt inhalation, salt steams and salt relaxation areas. Then there was the mineral area, which uses crystals and zen healing as its theme. The steam rooms here were a favourite of mine, especially the mineral steam which gradually got warmer and warmer until a jet of water came out of the ceiling to cool you off. Bliss!
Just outside of the mineral area, you’ll find the pool - an indoor to outdoor infinity pool complete with jets and bubbles. You could spend all day here, nestled among the backdrop of the forest.
One of the highlights of our day was taking part in two sessions, a sleep session and a sauna session. The sauna was incredible - the therapist escorted us into the salt sauna where she explained the traditional ritual of the sauna experience whilst wafting a towel above her head to increase the heat in the room. She then poured a mixture of scents onto the coals before walking around wafting each person individually with the towel to really intensify the heat. Another mixture of scents was thrown onto the coals before she went through the process again. After ten minutes we were all sweating and well and truly baked before she threw ice on our chests. That really takes your breath away but it’s strangely calming and leaves the body feeling amazing.
The sleep session was also a must. Entering a dark room with comfy chairs and a water feature, we were greeted by the specialist who had an abundance of sleep-benefiting products for us to try and test out. She then went through a sleep meditation, helping us to focus on our breathing and finding a way to completely switch off from the world. I could have stayed there all day.
For my trip I was also treated to one of the incredible new treatments on offer at Aqua Sana, the Gua Sha Deep Body Renewal Massage. Gua sha is a traditional Chinese technique where the therapist scrapes your skin with a smooth-edged tool. You might have seen it all over TikTok! It sounds terrifying, but the actual ‘scraping’ is more like a deep massage that is meant to help improve circulation. The treatment starts with you lying on your back as your therapist applies a body peel on the body, followed by a thermal mud mask. She then uses the Gua Sha to scrape the body, massaging the skin in the process. Once she was finished, she removed the products with heated mitts and applied cool body butter. I was then asked to turn over where she repeated the process on the back of my body. It was utter bliss, and my skin felt incredible afterwards. A nice perk was a cotton wristband covered in the oils used in the treatment you can wear for the rest of the day, so the scent of your treatment stays with you.
We couldn't fully enjoy the spa without also sampling the food on offer at the Vitalé Café Bar. Our spa day included a brunch, and myself and my friend both opted for the sourdough with bacon, avocado and poached egg. All washed down with a coffee. We popped back later for a glass of prosecco too and some nibbles. The staff in here were so warm and welcoming and the food delicious, a must add when you come here for a visit.
All in all, the Aqua Sana was a real surprise and, only a quick train ride from London, was not too far at all to enjoy a day of relaxation. I am already booking my next visit!
To book a spa day or break, visit: www.aquasana.co.uk